Insight into the Catholic Faith presents the Catholic Tradition Newsletter

1. Is the Chair of Peter Vacant? An Argument for Sedevacantism
2. Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
3. Christ the King
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:
Sunday the Church celebrates the Feast of Christ the King, but I have continued with Fr. Goffine’s Commentary on the Pentecost Sunday cycle, which is very well written and provides a solid teaching of Catholic life. There is also provided a reflection on the Feast of Christ the King from the Encyclical of Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas.
Last week we were speaking of the theologically true but politically incorrect reality that all the gods of the gentiles are devils (Psalm 95:5; cf. 1 Paral. 16:26) and that the Jews today do not have God as their Father (Cf. John 8:42f) unless you can call Christ a liar. Still, I do not want to give the impression that just faith is sufficient, rather the grace of God that works in the soul through membership in the Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. God gives actual grace—more so to those who desire to live the life He has created them for and Christ obtained through His redemption and the members of His Body petition for—to those who also are not incorporated into His Mystical Body. He gives sufficient grace to all to obtain their salvation if they would only cooperate with that grace. This intervening by God is because He wills the salvation of all, but cannot deny that nature which He gave mankind, understanding and freewill. If one chooses to reject the grace He grants and desires to live in darkness, He cannot take their choice from them and one must accept the reality that if one chooses to reject God, not just the concept of a god, one rejects God, even if one accepts the concept of a god. The rejection by Vatican II of this essential reality and basis of the Catholic Church has caused the cessation of the great undertakings of the Catholic Church to bring about the instruction and conversion of the world to Christ (John 17:3; cf. Ecclus: 36; Matt. 28:19f et al.). Therefore, I do not want to negate in the slightest way the working of God’s grace, as also the necessity of our cooperating with that grace.
This week is an opportune time for Catholics to reflect upon the life of grace that is circulated within the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church, consisting of the Saints in Heaven, the Souls in Purgatory and the Faithful on Earth. Celebrating the Feast of Christ the King, i.e., the Head of the Church, the Church then goes on to celebrate the Church Triumphant on November 1 and the Church Suffering on November 2. These two feasts remind the Church Militant that as the battle goes on, she should rejoice and honor the heroes of faith and she should not neglect those waiting to enter the rolls of the saints, who still must atone for their failures by going through purgation. Finally, she must attend to the living in making sure no one is left behind, but all the Faithful can make it through the battle of life on earth in, with and through God’s grace.
As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor
________________

Is the Chair of Peter Vacant?

An Argument for Sedevacantism

by Rev. Courtney Edward Krier

Fourth Contradiction: Unity or Disunity?
(Continued)
Unfortunately both Samuel Cardinal Stritch (+May 27, 1958) and Johannes Cardinal de Jong (+ September 8, 1955) would not be at Vatican II; it would be their nemesis, Albert Meyer and Bernard Cardinal Alfrink.
The conclusion of Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis reintegration, is that the Church is disunited and the neo-Modernists will unite the Church, acknowledging that there are various churches, i.e., faiths:

The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council. Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian communions present themselves to men as the true inheritors of Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but differ in mind and go their different ways, as if Christ Himself were divided. (1 Cor. 1,13.) Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.

The discussion taken up on Religious Liberty was postponed because the opposition was definitely too strong, but that didn’t stop those who wanted to change the teaching of the Church on this topic. Under Pius XII,
John Courtney Murray’s writings, as with the other Neo-modernists, were under suspect:

The Vatican did not initially appreciate Murray’s writings, and he had to cease publishing them for a number of years. However, John Courtney Murray made a significant contribution at the Second Vatican Council, especially in The Declaration on Religious Freedom. Murray later wrote:
The statements in Gaudium et Spes [The Church in the Modern World], like those in Dignitatis Humanae [Declaration on Religious Freedom], represent aggiornamento. And they are programmatic for the future. From now on, the Church defines her mission in the temporal order in terms of the realization of human dignity, the promotion of the rights of man, the growth of the human family towards unity, and the sanctification of the secular activities of this world. (John Courtney Murray, “The Issue of Church and State at Vatican Council II.” Theological Studies 27 (1966): 601.)

Another Schema, that would evolve into the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei verbum (18 November 1965), actually reveals the intent of the neo-Modernists to change the Faith, for Faith is based on Divine Revelation. Divine Revelation comes through Tradition and Sacred Scripture. In rejecting the Church, the Protestants turned to the Book. Yet, Christianity was not founded on the Books of the New Testament, but on the Church with Peter and the Apostles. The Apostles did not preach from the New Testament and did not have access to the Old Testament scrolls unless they preached in the Synagogues to the Jews. The Gospel was first Oral Tradition and then written. The Gentiles were first presented with the Faith merely on the words of the Apostles and disciples. The New Testament was not written until later. Matthew is the first to have written an account assumed to be in Aramaic, the other Gospels follow in Greek as also the Epistles and the Apocalypse, which was written by John the Apostle.
The Council of Trent, combatting the errors of the Protestant Innovators gave this teaching that must be believed:

The sacred and holy ecumenical and general Synod of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Spirit, with the same three Legates of the Apostolic See presiding over it, keeping this constantly in view, that with the abolishing of errors, the purity itself of the Gospel is preserved in the Church, which promised before through the Prophets in the Holy Scriptures our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God first promulgated with His own mouth, and then commanded “to be preached” by His apostles “to every creature” as the source of every saving truth and of instruction in morals [Matt. 28:19ff., Mark 16:15], and [the Synod] clearly perceiving that this truth and instruction are contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions, which have been received by the apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself, or from the apostles themselves, at the dictation of the Holy Spirit, have come down even to us, transmitted as it were from hand to hand, [the Synod] following the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receives and holds in veneration with an equal affection of piety and reverence all the books both of the Old and of the New Testament, since one God is the author of both, and also the traditions themselves, those that appertain both to faith and to morals, as having been dictated either by Christ’s own word of mouth, or by the Holy Spirit, and preserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous succession. And so that no doubt may arise in anyone’s mind as to which are the books that are accepted by this Synod, it has decreed that a list of the Sacred books be added to this decree. (Session IV (April 8, 1546); cf. DB 782)

Then follows the 72 books found in the Catholic Scriptures.
The Vatican Council (I) affirmed the Decree of Trent and adds that these Scriptures have been given to the Church as having God as their author being they were written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and contain no error:

Furthermore, this supernatural revelation, according to the faith of the universal Church, as declared by the holy synod of Trent, is contained “in the written books and in the unwritten traditions which have been received by the apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself; or, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit have been handed down by the apostles themselves, and have thus come to us” [Council of Trent, see n. 783]. And, indeed, these books of the Old and New Testament, whole with all their parts, just as they were enumerated in the decree of the same Council, are contained in the older Vulgate Latin edition, and are to be accepted as sacred and canonical. But the Church holds these books as sacred and canonical, not because, having been put together by human industry alone, they were then approved by its authority; nor because they contain revelation without error; but because, having been written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author and, as such, they have been handed down to the Church itself (can. 4). (DB 1787)

Canon 4. If anyone shall not accept the entire books of Sacred Scripture with all their divisions, just as the sacred Synod of Trent has enumerated them [Session IV], as canonical and sacred, or denies that they have been inspired by God: let him be anathema. (DB 1809)

Regarding the interpretation of Sacred Scripture, the Vatican Council goes on to teach:

But, since the rules which the holy Synod of Trent salutarily decreed concerning the interpretation of Divine Scripture in order to restrain impetuous minds, are wrongly explained by certain men, We, renewing the same decree, declare this to be its intention: that, in matters of faith and morals pertaining to the instruction of Christian Doctrine, that must be considered as the true sense of Sacred Scripture which Holy Mother Church has held and holds, whose office it is to judge concerning the true understanding and interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures; and, for that reason, no one is permitted to interpret Sacred Scripture itself contrary to this sense, or even contrary to the unanimous agreement of the Fathers. (DB 1788)

To somehow appease the Protestants, Augustine Bea and the neo-Modernists placed Scripture on the same level as the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist—something never dreamed of by the Apostles nor any Fathers or Doctors of the Church. Catholics venerate the Scriptures as inspired by God, but Catholics adore Christ present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. Yet, in the Conciliar Church there is the open bible on one table and the bread on the other. Christ is not sacramentally present in the Scriptures (the Letter of the Law). The following quote is from Verbum Dei: The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body. (Art. 21.)
Not only that, but to give the excuse for the Septuagint was to provide the faithful with a Bible—which is historical nonsense and should have been declared erroneous by all biblical scholars for the Septuagint was not used so the people had a Bible (the early Christians were also from the Jewish Community—which means the Scriptures were read in Hebrew), but because the Apostles, in quoting Our Lord, has Him speaking as in the Septuagint and with references to Judith, Tobias, and the other books lacking in the Masoretic Text. In reality, no one had Bibles. Yet, Verbum Dei states:
Easy access to Sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful. That is why the Church from the very beginning accepted as her own that very ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament which is called the septuagint; and she has always given a place of honor to other Eastern translations and Latin ones especially the Latin translation known as the vulgate. But since the word of God should be accessible at all times, the Church by her authority and with maternal concern sees to it that suitable and correct translations are made into different languages, especially from the original texts of the sacred books. And should the opportunity arise and the Church authorities approve, if these translations are produced in cooperation with the separated brethren as well, all Christians will be able to use them. (Art. 22.)
The Apostles, again, did not go around with Bibles, they fulfilled the command of Christ: Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Matt. 28:19, 20; cf. Mark 16:15,16) They committed, inspired by the Holy Ghost, many of those teachings to writing, which is now the New Testament.
Wiltgen mentions Bishop Enrico Romolo Compagnone, O.C.D. of Anagni, Italy, interjecting that there should be no deviation from the doctrine of the Council of Trent and Vatican I, which affirmed that tradition was more extensive than Sacred Scripture, and that revelation was contained not only in Sacred Scripture but also in tradition. The Bishop, perhaps in being overwhelmed by the majority approving such a disastrous document, then said in the words of Wiltgen: Although the majority did not consider it opportune to introduce this teaching in the text, care should be taken to avoid giving the impression that the Council was turning its back on earlier decisions. (Op. cit., 177)
Wiltgen then goes on to write:

The International Group of Fathers sent a ten-page criticism of the schema to its mailing list with an accompanying letter stating that one in conscience could give an affirmative vote at the fourth session, if the enclosed amendments were adopted in the schema. The group urged that its amendments be submitted before the January 31 deadline, since experience proved that “suggestions and amendments made to Council Commissions have almost no weight unless they are supported by the largest possible number of signatures.”
The effort was wasted, however, because the Theological Commission did not make a revision, in spite of the announcement made in the Council hall.
Voting on the schema took place early in the fourth session, between September 20 and 22, 1965. Contrary to Article 61, Section 3, of the Rules of Procedure, no report was read by a representative of the Theological Commission before the vote. In the course of six ballots, qualifications were submitted with 1498 affirmative votes. The Theological Commission, however, was not obliged to adopt any of these changes, because each part of the schema had received far more than the required two-thirds majority. (Ibid., 178)
(To be continued)
————————–
Fr. Leonard Goffine
The Ecclesiastical Year (1880)

INSTRUCTION FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

At the Introit of the Mass is said a prayer of Mardochai, which may be used in all necessities: All things are in thy will, O Lord: and there is none that can resist thy will: for thou hast made all things, heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven: thou art Lord of all. (Esth. xiii. 9, 10.) Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in the law of the Lord. (Ps. cxviii.) Glory etc.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy family by Thy continued goodness: that, through Thy protection, it may be free from all adversities, and devoted in good works to the glory of Thy name. Thro’.

EPISTLE. (Ephes. vi. 10-17.) Brethren, Be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of his power. Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil: for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. Therefore take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of, the most wicked one: and take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
…